Aliza sternstein

don’t move stones

December 11, 2021 - January 29, 2022

Olympia is pleased to present Don’t Move Stones, a solo exhibition of recent paintings by Aliza Sternstein.

Sternstein’s paintings are a bold and dreamy play with layers and transparency, filled with symbols and gestures in a delicate consideration of both the ephemeral and the preserved. Sternstein builds the canvas with layer upon layer of gesso to create a surface that is so absorbent, it maintains the history of knocks, fingerprints, and wipeouts, which permeate across the paintings. 

Sentimental symbols such as hearts and flowers are the subjects of many of these paintings, which prompt us to reconsider the joyful and energetic nature of such symbols, and wonder why they were ever relegated into the category of “trivial” or “childish” in the first place. The artist makes her own stencils, which she uses to repeat these shapes and block out surfaces on the canvas. 

This show’s title, Don’t Move Stones, an allusion to Anne Carson’s translation of Sappho’s fragment 145, not only encourages us to embrace what we find already laid before us, but also welcomes us to imagine the pauses that dance on the edge of shapes and symbols. 

Aliza Sternstein (b. 1990) lives and works in New York City. She received her MFA from Boston University in 2016 and her BA from Brandeis University in 2013. Don’t Move Stones marked Sternstein’s debut solo exhibition (Olympia, 2022). Other notable venues include SPRING/BREAK (2020), Jip Gallery (2020), and Vacation Gallery (2019). Sternstein’s work has appeared in Artforum and Artnet News.